The Enormous Entrance
by mrs.ronweasleyy
Summary: The Baudelaires adventures in the 12th book with Kit Snicket. Has nothing to do with The Penultimate Peril. CHAPTER 9 UP!
1. Chapter One

Chapter One

During a long car ride, one usually sings joyfully, excited for where they're going, takes a nap, whines and says he or she has to go to the bathroom, or asks the usual question; "Are we there yet?"

However, the Baudelaire orphans did not do any of these while riding in the small car with Kit Snicket. They sat quietly staring out the window in deep thought wondering where this kind lady was taking them.

"Well, you're a gloomy bunch aren't you?" she asked.

"Charmeeh!" cried Sunny, which probably meant; "If you went through what we've been through you would be as gloomy as us."

"Well, I don't know what 'charmeeh' means, but I guess it's a sign that you don't want to be bothered."

"Oh no, Miss Snicket, we're not bothered. We're just in deep thought." said Violet.

"Please, call me Kit. Miss Snicket is far too fancy. Just Kit."

"Okay... Kit." said Violet. Kit Snicket smiled.

"Come on! I know you have all been through a rough time, but where we're going is a very fun place. I'm sure you'll enjoy it greatly, if you turn those frowns upside down!"

"Lert!" said Sunny, which probably meant; "This lady's nuts!"

"Sunny!" said Violet.

"Thank you so much for taking us with you." said Klaus.

"Oh it was my pleasure." said Kit.

"Greesh." said Sunny, which meant; "If she hadn't, we would be stuck with Mr. Poe again and he would take us to another awful home."

Violet and Klaus nodded in agreement.

"We're here!" sang Kit.

The three children looked out their window and saw the most magnificent thing they had ever seen.

It was a hotel, but a beautiful one. It had roses growing in front of every window, there was a beautiful fountain with a statue of a dolphin in the middle, and there was an enormous doorway that led to the inside lobby.

"Isn't she beautiful?" said Kit looking up at the hundreds of windows getting smaller as they went higher. "Welcome children, to Hotel Denoument!" she said raising her hands in the air.

"It's beautiful." said Violet quietly.

"It is, isn't it? Well, let's not waste any more time on the outside, you have to see the inside before you can judge. Remember; never judge a book by its cover."

The phrase we have just used here is a common phrase, one that you have probably heard several times in your life. It means that if you see a beautiful picture of a lady on the cover of a book, don't immediately think that the book will be about beautiful ladies walking the streets of Paris in short, short skirts and spaghetti strapped tank tops. It may be a cover of a magazine that an alien enjoys reading, while relaxing on the beaches of planet Juno with his alien posse surrounding him. So to put it short, 'don't judge a book by its cover' means get to know something better before judging it.

"I agree." said Klaus.

"Dar!" said Sunny which probably meant; "You are both so pathetic!"

Klaus glared at her. They went through the enormous entrance and reached a large circular table in the middle of a lobby. It was a rather large lobby, but from the outside, it seemed as if the lobby would be much larger. There was a pot on the table, and a few desks lined along the left wall where men and women in beige uniforms were addressing people to their rooms.

"It's not as grand as you thought it would be, huh?" said Kit. "Some people come and pay here so they can take their tent in the courtyard and camp out there instead of in here. And I suppose they're right. I'm sorry, but I don't have a tent, which means we will be forced to buy a room. I'm sure they have a vacancy."

Violet looked at Klaus and he shrugged. Kit walked over to one of the desks and started talking to a man in beige.

"This is the one time that the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover' is actually right." said Violet with a sigh.

"Eva!" cried Sunny. And for the first time ever, Violet and Klaus didn't know what she was saying.

"Sunny, what are you saying?" asked Violet bending down by the youngster.

"Eva!" repeated Sunny with a foolish grin.

"I think she's messing with our minds. Come on let's go to Kit."

"No, no, no. Sunny wouldn't do that. She's trying to say something. Come on, what is it Sunny?"

"Evar!" said Sunny, which meant; "Look, it's Eva!"

"Whose Eva?" said Klaus and Violet in unison. Sunny pointed at a girl wearing a long brown dress with straight hair up to her shoulders. She was talking with one of the women in beige and she looked about 10 years old.

"Who is that Sunny?"

"Cherytugasto?" said Sunny, which meant; "Remember that time when our parents got into a fight and us and dad went to the market?"

"Yes, but so what?" said Klaus.

"Jeranomo?" said Sunny, which meant; "Well remember you two were playing tag and running around the store while I was cheering you on, and Klaus you bumped into a little girl and she started crying?"

"Yes."

"Agulokis?" asked Sunny, which probably meant; "Remember then you became friends even though she was younger and she came to visit us often before the terrible fire?"

"Yes, but—"

"Eva!" said Sunny, pointing at the girl again.

"So you're saying _that's_ Eva?" asked Klaus.

"Yes!!!" said Sunny jumping up and down.

"Come on, we must say hello." said Violet, picking up Sunny.

"Uh, Eva? Are you Eva?" asked Klaus.

"Klaus!? Violet!? Sunny!? Oh my gosh, it's really you!" said Eva jumping and giving Klaus a hug that nearly pushed him into the round table with the flower pot in the center.

"I can't believe it! You guys are alive!" she said.

"Of course we are, what did you think we were, dead?" said Klaus sarcastically.

"Yes! That's what everyone is telling us at school! That the Baudelaire family all perished in a terrible fire that ruined their home and blahdy blahdy blah! But you guys are alive! Oh, where are your parents I must say hello!"

"They—uh, they—" he was interrupted by Violet stepping on his foot.

"They're not here right now. But if we do meet up with them I'd gladly take you to them."

Klaus and Sunny stared at Violet in surprise.

"Aga?" said Sunny, which meant; "Our parents are dead Violet, why are you lying?" Violet put her finger to her lips when Eva turned away.

"Still speaking in that strange language of yours, aren't you Sunny?" said Eva.

"Kleo!" said Sunny, which meant; "It's not a strange language!"

"Sunny says it's not a strange language." said Klaus.

"Trojew?" said Sunny, which meant; "Do you have to tell her every single detail about our lives?"

"She's right you know." said Violet.

"Right about what?" asked Eva.

"She said we should get back to our room. Klaus, why don't you and Sunny go ahead? I'll meet you at the elevator. I need to ask that lady where she got her watch."

Klaus raised his eyebrows but took Sunny's hand and said; "It was nice to see you Eva. When are you leaving?"

"Oh I was just on my way out. But it's so good to see you guys! I missed you so much. Well, hopefully they'll rebuild your house and you could move back to our neighborhood again. See you until then!"

"Bye Eva." said Violet as she walked over to Kit.

"Kit, we're gonna go upstairs and look around a bit, ok? What room are we in? 401. On the 4th floor. See you then and be careful!"

"We will." said Violet as she ran past Eva and her family to the elevators.

"Don't you wish that it were true?" said Klaus, once they were in the elevator.

"If what were true Klaus?" asked Violet.

"That mom and dad had come with us to the beach that day when our house burned down and they were here with us and enjoying this hotel and waiting for our house to finish being remodeled so we could move back into our old neighborhood and back into our old lives? Don't you wish that were true?"

"Of course I wish it were true. All of us do. But the fact is that's not true. And we should start living in reality and not some other world if our parents had lived. They didn't survive Klaus. And I'm sorry to say that they're not coming back."


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

As the Baudelaire's got off of the elevator, an old memory came into their heads. Violet was 9 and Klaus was 7, and Sunny of course, wasn't born yet, so she just remembered what Violet and Klaus had told her about it. Violet was having a party and all of her friends were invited. Klaus was all alone, so he wanted to be with the older girls but Violet simply wouldn't let. Their parents had been in the kitchen preparing the girls' lunch, so Klaus sneaked out the front door to run away. Violet remembered how worried sick she was when she couldn't find her brother after the party. Her parents had called the police while Violet was outside calling his name. It turned out Klaus was too frightened to go anywhere too far so he had fallen asleep in the large bush in front of their house. When he was found they all hugged him and told him how worried they were and they went out for ice cream to celebrate.

This memory, of course, had absolutely nothing to do with the situation the Baudelaires were in now, but it had just struck their minds as they walked into the smelly hallway on level 4.

"Haroo?" asked Sunny, which probably meant; "Do you think Count Olaf will find us here?"

Violet and Klaus froze. It had seemed over ages ago since they had last thought of the wicked man who had caused them all of their troubles.

"I don't think so." said Violet, not as confident as she sounded.

"I hope not." said Klaus.

"Erit." Sunny agreed.

The Baudelaire youngsters walked in silence to room 401 and sat down on the torn carpet and patiently waited for Kit's arrival.

As they waited, they were once again in deep thought. Violet was thinking if there would be any items in the hotel for her to use for an invention if Count Olaf did indeed find them. Klaus was thinking if there would be any old books in the hotel to help him uncover Olaf's next scheme. Sunny was thinking if there would be any useless objects for her to bite in case she needed any practice to attack Olaf in any situation.

As the Baudelaire's were thinking, none of them noticed the terrified shrieks and screams of people below them in the lobby, until Sunny said, "Aiwa?" which meant; "Do you hear the terrified shrieks and screams of the people below us in the lobby?"

Violet and Klaus jerked their heads up, and now they did in fact hear the terrified shrieks and screams of the people below them in the lobby.

"Let's go!" said Violet, jumping to her feet.

The three Baudelaires ran to the elevators as fast as their legs would carry them. Violet pressed the button.

"Come on, COME ON!" she yelled.

"The stairs!" said Klaus. Violet scooped up Sunny in her arms since she was still learning how to walk properly and it would take her ages to be able to go up and down stairs as fast as her siblings. They ran down the stairs and Klaus opened the lobby door. To his horror he couldn't see anything, for the lobby was clogged with layers and layers of black smoke.

"It's—a—FIRE!" choked Klaus.

"Klaus! Cover your mouth and run to the exit! Sunny and I'll catch up to you!" said Violet.

"No! Violet, I can't leave you here!" said Klaus, able to talk better under the protection of his shirt.

"Ok, take Sunny. I promise you I will be fine. Just get out and find Kit." said Violet.

"But—"

"Just go!" said Violet giving him a little push. He covered Sunny's face and raced for the exit, and I'm sorry to say he made a very wrong choice of leaving the eldest Baudelaire in the fire. But Klaus of course, did not know this. He thought Violet would truly be safe, since he trusted his sister.

He ran out of the hotel which was now going up in flames, and kept repeating to himself; _She is going to be fine. She is going to be fine. _And I'm sorry to say that Violet Baudelaire would not be fine. In fact, she was going to be the farthest thing from fine. But of course, no one knew that yet.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Klaus dove out of the building and somehow managed not to squish Sunny under his body. He felt two large hands grab him by the shoulders and pull him onto a stretcher. Sunny sat on the ground wailing.

"I'm fine! I don't need this! I said I'm FINE!" said Klaus as he jumped off the stretcher and sprinted back to his sister. He picked her up in his arms and she calmed down a bit. He went up to a firefighter and said; "Listen to me! My sister is in there! You've got to help her! Please! GO GET HER!"

"Kid, do you think we're crazy? If anyone steps foot in that hotel they're toast, literally. We need to put the fire out and then send our search and rescue teams in."

"But then it will be too late!" protested Klaus.

"Listen kid, I'm a firefighter, and I know how to do my job. So I don't need a 6 year old telling me how to do it!"

"I'm 12!" yelled Klaus, although that wasn't the point of the conversation.

"Yea, yea. Why don't you go buy yourself some ice cream or something?"

Klaus scowled and walked away. He sat on a bench across the street from the flaring hotel, wondering if his sister had made it out safely. He watched the magnificent hotel crumble away into nothing. A car pulled up near the bench, and a familiar figure walked out of it. It was Mr. Poe.

"Mr. Poe!" said Klaus in surprise. "It's you! I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once I'm actually glad you came!"

Mr. Poe coughed into his handkerchief before he spoke.

"Yes, I called the taxi company and they told me exactly where that taxi went. It just took me a while to get here. Ah, where is the other one?"

"I don't know! She was in the hotel and they won't go in and save anyone. Please Mr. Poe, you have to do something!"

"HUTIST!" shrieked Sunny, which meant; "LISTEN TO HIM!"

"I will do nothing of the sort!" said Mr. Poe coughing in his handkerchief. "My job is to take you to a suitable home, not go looking for an unfortunate orphan! The death of Violet Baudelaire is a very unfortunate one, but as I need to get back to my job, you 2 will come with me to your new home."

"Mr. Poe! You can't do that!" said Klaus with tears in his eyes. "Violet's alive!"

"Fortibish!" said Sunny, which meant; "Klaus listen to me, go with Mr. Poe, and I'll go back to the hotel to find Violet, and don't say anything so I can sneak off unnoticed. Good luck!"

"Sunny!" said Klaus.

"Baby!" yelled Mr. Poe. "As Vice president of Mulctuary Management, I command you to get back over here!" But of course, Sunny did nothing of the sort.

"Agrata!" she called back to Klaus, which probably meant; "I'll miss you!" or "Be careful!" or "Wow, Mr. Poe is loco!"

"Bye Sunny." said Klaus as tears rolled down his cheeks.

The Baudelaires splitting up was not such a good idea, because alone they were helpless around Count Olaf. Doing this however, made them safe in a way, because it decreased the chances of Olaf finding them, even though he had been unheard of for a while now. But as it is my duty only to inform the public of the Baudelaire tale, I for one must respect their decision to split up, although it wasn't necessarily what most people call a good decision.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Klaus got into the old bankers car with a sick feeling in his stomach. He had already been separated from one of his sisters, and now he had just let the other one go.

"Don't feel bad, this time I'm sure this home is safe." said Mr. Poe as he coughed into his handkerchief. Klaus knew better than to believe Mr. Poe. He had said this about every home they had switched to, and all of them ended up as disasters. Klaus was sure this one would be worse, especially since he had no siblings to look to for comfort. They rode in silence for about an hour, and Klaus knew if he did run away from his new home it would take him days to arrive back at the hotel, and by then Violet and Sunny would be long gone.

Mr. Poe parked the car in a gloomy old neighborhood in front of a small cottage.

"Where's this?" asked Klaus.

"This is 5352 Cambria Lane, home of the Stevens." said Mr. Poe.

"How exciting." muttered Klaus under his breath.

"What was that?" said Mr. Poe.

"Nothing, nothing." said Klaus getting out of the crammed vehicle.

"Now listen to me. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens are very busy people, and they have taken time out of their busy schedule to adopt you. So I want you to be on your best behavior and stay out of their way as much as possible. Am I clear?"

"Yes." said Klaus. It didn't bother him in the least bit that Mr. and Mrs. Stevens were busy. All he wanted was a library to spend all his time in. Mr. Poe walked up the concrete steps and knocked on the door. The door was slightly opened and you could hear the sound of people scurrying around like mice. Then the door was pulled all the way open and there stood a little girl. Klaus frowned.

"Eva?" The girl stepped back and gasped.

"Klaus! What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"I—I live here." she said quietly. "My mother said we were adopting a girl, a boy, and a baby. But it never occurred to me it would be the Baudelaire's. Where are your sisters? And your parents?"

"They—"

"I really don't have time for this. Little girl, could you please get me your parents? They need to sign the contract."

"Well, sure. MOM! DAD! THERE'S A MAN AT THE DOOR FOR YOU!"

"Ah shut it kid! Who is it anyways?" said a voice.

"The guy from the bank with the new kids! Or, kid." Suddenly a man and women appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, honey! I'm SO sorry for speaking to you like that! It was so incredibly rude of me! Well hello sir! You must be Mr. Toe!"

"Poe, yes indeed. Now I need you to sign here."

"Kid, why don't you take our new guests—"

"Ah, _guest_. The other two won't be showing up."

"Aw well that's too bad! Well, why don't you take our new _guest_ and show him the house? Would you like a cup of coffee Mr. Soe?"

"_Poe_, and no thank you Miss. I should get back to the office. There's been a major decrease in the—"

"Well that's nice now! Buh-bye!"

"If you need anything call my—" Klaus never found out what he should call if he needed anything because the lady closed the door.

"KID! Didn't I tell you to show the boy around? We've got a long day ahead of us."

"But it's 5:30." said Klaus.

"Then we have a long night!" snapped Mrs. Stevens.

"Come on Klaus. I'll show you where all of us sleep." said Eva.

"All of us? You mean there's more kids?"

"12 more to be exact. You're the 14th."

"But I thought the Stevens were a busy working couple?"

"Well they aren't. That's why we're here. To do all the work for them."

"But that's bizarre. We're only kids!"

"Try telling them that." said Eva. "Come on."

She led Klaus through the kitchen and opened a door almost covered by the refrigerator.

"What's in here?" asked Klaus.

"Our room." said Eva, swinging the door open. Klaus gasped. There were 12 kids in dirty, torn clothing, sitting on squeaking cots and mingling with their friends. There were 16 cots, lined across from each other; 8 on one side and 8 on the other. When Klaus walked in the room everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at him.

"Everyone, this is our new brother Klaus." said Eva.

A wave of murmurs swept across the room.

"Hi Klaus!" said a little boy running up to him. "I'm Jimmy. I can work real good. Come sit with us! Our break is almost up."

"Uh—ok." said Klaus.

"Wait Jimmy, let Klaus get settled in before we have to get back to work." said Eva.

"Aw man Eva!" said Jimmy, but he ran back to his bed with a smile anyways.

"Come on. Let me introduce you to my friend. This is Kim Snicket. Kim, meet Klaus Baudelaire."

"Hi." said Kim.

"Did you say Kim _Snicket?_"

"Yeah, that's my name. Why?"

"Do you happen to know a Kit Snicket? Or Jacques?"

"Yeah, they're supposed to be my aunt and uncle. I never met my father though, and no one talks about him. My mother met my father from Kit. Yeah, they went to college together. And Kit worked for something called V.F.D., I think."

Klaus's jaw dropped.

"_My parents worked for that! Before they died in the fire!_" Klaus gasped and clapped his hands over his mouth.

"Your parents died? But Violet told me—"

"Violet lied. And I don't know why."

"But, we've been friends for so long! Why did you lie to me?"

"I see how honest you've been with us as well." said Klaus, pointing to the walls. "Is this that magnificent mansion you live in?"

"Stop it Klaus!" said Eva with tears in her eyes. "My parents died some time before your house burned down. That's why I didn't come so often anymore. Because I had to live here. I just thought you wouldn't like me anymore if I told you that I didn't live in a magnificent mansion anymore and that I was a poor orphan."

"Then who were those people with you at the hotel?" said Klaus.

"I don't know! They were just a group of people that were standing around so I thought if I looked like I was with them, you guys would think they're my family or something."

"You didn't need to lie!" said Klaus.

"Neither did you!" said Eva.

Everyone was quiet. Suddenly a sound was made that reminded Klaus remarkably of the sound that Foreman Flacutuno made in the morning for them to get up while they still lived in Lucky Smells Lumber Mill. It was the sound of two pots clanging together, a sound that made all the children in the small room get up and rush to stand at the foot of their beds. It reminded Klaus about a book he had read on military school in his parents' library before their house was destroyed.

Klaus was clueless, so he just stood at the foot of an empty bed.

"Brace yourself," said Kim, "for doom."

(A/N I know there's not really anything about Violet and Sunny in this chapter, but I promise there whereabouts will be revealed as the story continues. Don't forget to review!)


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

'What goes around comes around' is a common phrase that you have most likely heard from your parent or teacher if you were ever teasing someone. It simply means, if you're teasing someone about their name, don't be surprised that if another day another kid teases you about your name. Sunny was hoping that one day some other evil villain would try to steal money from Count Olaf, and chase after him everywhere he went. Sunny did not just randomly wish this though. There was a reason the youngest Baudelaire child had hoped this for the wicked Count. This was because after Klaus had left in Mr. Poe's car, Sunny had crawled as fast as she could, because she could crawl faster than she walked, to the flaming hotel in which her sister was stuck in. She had seen Count Olaf's henchmen—or should I say henchman and woman—Fiona and the hook handed man, or Fernald, loading gas tanks into a small black car.

"Why don't we just leave these here?" Fiona had asked.

"Because the boss said to bring the extras back because he needs them for some other thing he's planning."

If the youngest Baudelaire child hadn't been alone, she would have done something to stop them, but instead of being foolish, Sunny stayed hidden behind a tree until the car was out of sight. If Violet had indeed perished in the fire, Sunny vowed that she would find Fiona and bite her hands off so the traitor would be just like her long lost—and now found—brother.

Sunny crawled over to the courtyard of the hotel in the back and saw something that made her jaw drop.

"Viylit!" she screamed, which meant; "Violet, you're alive!" And she was indeed correct. The eldest Baudelaire had made it out of the fire unharmed, although that wouldn't be the best way to describe it because she had many cuts and scratches on her body and her lip was bleeding.

"S…unn…y…" she managed to say. Sunny crawled over to Violet and gave her a big hug.

"Gristin." she said, which meant; "I'm so happy you're safe."

"Me… too…" said Violet.

"Waroot?" said Sunny, which meant; "Why don't you clean yourself up in that fountain? Then we can find Klaus."

"Ok…" said Violet. She slowly got to her feet and steadily reached the small fountain. Sunny sat patiently on the ground, watching the fireman poor water on the destroyed building while Violet was cleaning herself up. Sunny then looked up in the sky and saw something that terrified her. It was a cloud in the shape of an eye, just like Olaf's tattoo.

Some people say crying is babyish, and when someone cries they call them a baby. I for one do not agree with that. I cried when my dear Beatrice went to a better place on this earth and left me here to grieve her passing. The Baudelaire children cried when their parents perished in a terrible fire that ruined their home and lives. Sunny cried when she saw the mark of the evil villain that was messing up her life in a cloud in the sky. The sky was something that Sunny found beautiful, and even though Count Olaf's mark was only in one part of it, it made the whole sky look disgusting.

"Oh Sunny!" said Violet, rushing to comfort her sister. "What is it?"

"Stipto!" she said, which meant; "Look up!"

Violet looked up, and saw the reason her baby sister was crying.

"Don't worry. I won't let him touch you." said Violet.

"Bifo?" asked Sunny, which probably meant; "You promise?"

"Promise." said Violet. "Now, what are we going to do?"

"Arog?" asked Sunny, which meant; "Shouldn't we find Klaus?"

"Yes… but where would we start? We have no idea where Mr. Poe took him."

"Frit, frit…."said Sunny, which meant; "True, true…"

"Hmm…" said Violet.

"Aliegfosdung." said Sunny, which meant; "First we should get somewhere safe so Count Olaf can't find us there, and then we'll think of a plan."

"Good idea." said Violet. "But where to?"

"Hotisra?" said Sunny which meant; "How bout in the basement of the hotel?"

"No, the search and rescue teams are searching for any people alive, and if—"

"Kit!" said Sunny, which meant; "Kit!"

"Brilliant!" said Violet. "But what if she's…"

"Nitis." said Sunny, which meant; "I don't think so, she was downstairs and near the exit."

"Good point. Let's go look."

"Si." agreed Sunny.

The Baudelaire sisters carefully walked around the ashes of what used to be a quite large hotel. In the front, they saw many ambulances and paramedics taking the people who survived, and those who died, to the nearest hospital. A reporter was explaining to the public about this horrific accident, or should I say, planned accident.

"Sunny, we have to get seen by the camera! Maybe wherever Klaus is he'll see us on television and stop worrying!"

"Si! Si!" said Sunny, which meant; "Yes! Yes!"

"An unexpected fire sneaks up on local vacationers here at Hotel Denouement." said the reporter. "Six people have gotten terrible third degree burns, and 8 were found dead. This tragedy…" Violet and Sunny didn't listen to the rest they stood behind the reporter and waved their hands and arms frantically. By doing this, they thought Klaus would see them. It never occurred to the Baudelaire sisters that appearing on live television would send them to their doom, because the Stevens obviously weren't the only people on earth with a television. You and I have a television as well, and if you had turned on your TV when the fire at Hotel Denouement was happening, you may have also seen the Baudelaire sisters trying to alert their brother. But we weren't the only ones. In fact, the very man that the Baudelaire's were trying to avoid was watching them waving their arms, and was disgusted to see that they had survived. And I'm sorry to say that this man was indeed the wretched Count Olaf.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Hatred is a horrible feeling, and it is only right to hate someone or something if they had done something incredibly awful. For instance, the Baudelaire's had a good reason to hate fires, because one of them had destroyed their house and parents. Klaus had a good reason to hate Mr. Stevens, because as he walked in the room he could see terrified expressions on the other children's faces, and he knew that some day he would be just as afraid as them.

"Now, you all know your stations. You will get to them and finish the job at 7 'o clock sharp. March!" he yelled.

All the kids squeezed their way out of the room and ran out of sight. Klaus was the only one remaining.

"Well you must be the new kid, eh? Well, since it's your first day, I'm gonna make it easy on you. All you have to do is clean up the kitchen and living room, where my wife is sitting watching the news so I suggest you be quiet when your there. Do you understand me?"

"Uh, yes, sir." said Klaus quietly.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

"YES SIR!" yelled Klaus as loud as he possibly could. He didn't like to have to live in a place that was more like a military school than a home.

"MARCH!" yelled Mr. Stevens.

Klaus ran out of the room and went into the living room. He saw Mrs. Stevens indeed watching the news, but he saw something that made his jaw drop. There was a lady on the news reporting live from the fire at Hotel Denouement.

"This tragedy will be remembered by those who lost loved ones. As you can see here, all that was left of this once attractive hotel is this enormous entrance. Our firemen think it was made of some sort of steel that there is no more of today. 'This hotel was pretty old from what I heard, maybe there was some sort of steel back then that was fire-proof that is no more of now.' says Fireman Futoonacla. We'll get back to you…" Klaus didn't listen to the rest. He really didn't listen to the first part either, because he saw two familiar faces in the background that can be described in three words; Violet and Sunny.

"Violet!" said Klaus aloud.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Get back to work!" screamed Mrs. Stevens.

"I—I'm supposed to clean the living room, Ma'am." said Klaus.

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING WATCHING THE NEWS!?!?" bellowed Mrs. Stevens.

"I'm sorry." said Klaus. "I just saw two people that looked… familiar."

"Well get back to work, and I mean NOW!"

"Yikes!" muttered Klaus.

"Sorry?!"

"Oh nothing…"

"No really tell me what you said?!"

"I didn't say anything!" said Klaus.

"THEN GET BACK TO WORK!"

"I'm trying to!" said Klaus, a bit annoyed at the rudeness of this woman. He finished cleaning the living room and kitchen and about 6:55, so he went back to the room and was surprised to see that many of the children, including Eva and Kim, were back already from their work.

"So how'd it go?" asked Eva when Klaus walked in, covered in dust.

"Awful." said Klaus throwing himself on the bed.

"Well, that was nothing. Your _real_ work begins tomorrow." said Kim.

Klaus sighed and slumped on his bed. "I wish my sisters could find me and get me out of here…" he said.

"So do we. But we don't have sisters, or brothers. So you're rather lucky in a way."

"I guess you're right." he said.

"I wish my mom was here to take me. She's going to be late for her V.F.D. meeting." said Kim.

"Wait, what day is it?" asked Klaus.

"Thursday, why?"

"The V.F.D. meeting was supposed to be today! At hotel Denouement! But now it's been canceled because of the fire!"

"What fire?" asked Eva and Kim in unison.

"There was a fire—the hotel—that's not the point!" said Klaus. "Kim, how do you know about the meeting?"

"My mom works for V.F.D., of course. Along with my dad while he was still alive."

"But then—why—how long have you been here that you knew about this meeting?" asked Klaus.

"Just a week or so." said Kim.

"This is so strange!" said Klaus. "But the meeting was canceled! I totally forgot about it anyways while we were still at the hotel!"

"_You_ were at the hotel?" asked Kim.

"Yeah. Along with my sisters. Why is that surprising to you? Eva was there too."

"But only members of V.F.D. are allowed in. Eva, you never told me your parents worked for V.F.D.!" said Kim.

"So that means all the people there were part of V.F.D.?" asked Klaus

"Yes! Except for those people who slept outside in tents. Look Kim, my parents did work for V.F.D., and when the Stevens told me to go pick up the groceries, I decided to stop by and see how things were going on, since there was the big meeting today." said Eva.

"But then Klaus what are you saying about a fire?" asked Kim.

"There _was_ a fire. But I think it was after Eva left. And I think Count Olaf knew about the V.F.D. meeting, so he set off the fire so it would have to be canceled, and while doing that he hoped me and my sisters would die within its flames."

"Whose Count Olaf?" asked Kim.

"A horrible man after the Baudelaire fortune and the sugar bowl." said Klaus. "After my parents died, my sisters and I have been constantly on the run from him."

"That's awful!" said Kim.

"Yeah, it is." said Klaus. He paused for a moment. "Why don't any of you ever run away from here?" he asked.

"We've thought about it. But where would we go? It miles until we reach town, and the little ones will get tired." Kim said.

"But have you ever tried it?" asked Klaus.

"Well… no. But it seems like it'll turn out to be a disaster." said Eva.

"You'll never know how it'll be unless you try." said Klaus, eager to have the girls agree with him so they could leave this place.

"Well, I suppose you're right," said Kim, "but when will we leave?"

"Tonight." said Klaus. "Tell the others. I don't even know why you guys stayed here all that time. There's more of you than them."

"Come to think of it, he's right!" said Eva.

"I'll go tell the others, you guys start packing." said Kim.

"Ok." said Klaus and Eva together.

"Do you know where they keep food? And a first aid kit?" asked Klaus.

"Food's in the kitchen. And I don't think they have a first aid kit." said Eva.

"Well, you know this place better than me. Take someone with you to get those things, and then get back in here. And _don't_ get caught." said Klaus.

"I won't." said Eva. "Hey, Irene, come with me to get some food."

"For what?" asked Irene. "You know we're not allowed in the kitchen unless we're cleaning it."

"Who cares? We're leaving this place!" said Eva happily. Irene shrugged.

"If you say so." And they both skipped to the kitchen.

"Everyone else get packing!" said Klaus.

"Klaus, we'll never get out. They'll spot us; there's too many." said Kim.

"You're not suggesting that—"

"We must. It's the only way we'll get out safely."

"We can't just leave them here! Look, Vera's only 5 and she cleans the chimney as well as a chimney sweep! Don't you understand?"

"Alright Klaus, but if we get caught we're under triple this protection."

"We won't get caught." said Klaus. "We won't."


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter 7

Fright is a strange thing. When you're frightened at a dentist's office and you hide behind your mother, you may be thinking that the man trying to coax you in the room with the big chair is going to hurt you or your precious teeth. You may be frightened if you're on a plane over 500,000 feet in the air and the captain announces that there are technical difficulties. You may be frightened if you're an author hiding in the sewer underground to keep Very Ferocious Dogs from harming you. However, the Baudelaire sisters were not frightened for any of these reasons, since they were not in a dentist's office, an airplane, or a sewer, places that seemed much more pleasant than the place they were at now. The Baudelaire sisters were at the scene of a terrible fire, a fire that had separated them from their brother and Kit. Violet sat down on a log; frightened if anyone had recognized her as Veronica Baudelaire from the _Daily Punctilio_ and thought that she was a murderer like it said and they were on their way to the Hotel with the authorities to arrest her and her sister.

"Sunny!" she cried, just realizing in how much danger they had put themselves in.

"Violet?" said Sunny, which meant something along the lines of; "Yes Violet?"

"We have to leave!" she said.

"Why?"

"We were just on live television! Remember all those people that are after us? They could have seen us! And this place is filled with police officers!"

"Arta?" said Sunny, which meant, "Well what are we going to do?"

"Leave. We're going to leave this place now."

"Kit!" said Sunny, which meant; "But how will we find Kit? She's our only hope of finding the secret of V.F.D."

"I know, but I don't know how we could look for her without being spotted, since more and more police officers are arriving."

"Frestith." said Sunny, which meant; "You hide and I'll look, I'm harder to spot than you because I'm smaller."

"Sunny, I can't let you do that, it's too dangerous." said Violet.

"Afry?" said Sunny, which meant something like; "Do you want to find Kit or not?"

"Yes but—"

"Go." said Sunny, which meant; "Then let me go."

"Sunny, be careful, Olaf could be lurking anywhere." said Violet.

"Worry." said Sunny, which meant; "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Violet sighed and walked back to the courtyard of the hotel. She sat on a bench near the fountain she had cleaned herself up in earlier. She smiled as she thought of the time at the Village of Fowl Devotees when Duncan and Isadora were trapped in the fountain shaped like a crow and Sunny had discovered the way to let them out. She thought about where they were right now and if they were still in the hot air balloon with Hector. Then she frowned. Violet had more important things to think of than the past, such as the safety of her baby sister. She thought about going to check on her, but then she thought about the police officers spotting her. She had nothing she could do, other than hope for the best and think about how to get her and her sister and Kit out of there.

Suddenly, amidst the smoke came a small figure slowly making his or her way to Violet.

"Sunny? Sunny is that you?" asked Violet.

"Violet…" said Sunny, which meant; "Violet, Kit…"

"No. Sunny please tell me she's alive. Please Sunny!"

"No." said Sunny. "No Kit."

Violet fell to the ground sobbing.

"Why!" she wailed. "Why did our lives have to turn out so horrible? What did we do wrong?"

"Cry." said Sunny, which meant something along the lines of; "Don't cry Violet, we'll be fine. We'll find V.F.D. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but we'll find it."

"Sunny, don't you get it? We can't go on like this! We have no choice but to…"

"Violet!" said Sunny sternly.

"We have to give ourselves in to Olaf. We're children, and look what we've been through! We don't deserve this. Let's just hand over our fortune and… do whatever he wants us to do. We can't go on running about like this, or for all our lives he'll be chasing us."

"So nothing?" said Sunny, which meant; "So we've come all this way just to give in? We've done all our work for nothing? For _nothing_?"

"Yes." said Violet. "We have. Let's hope Mr. Poe found Klaus a good enough home. At least he'll be happy."

"Us?" said Sunny, which meant; "And us?"

"Sunny, there _is_ no us. It's over. I'm going to take you to Mulctuary Money Management, give you to Mr. Poe, and go to Olaf by myself."

"Come too!" said Sunny, which probably meant; "I'm coming too!"

"I'm not going to take you back to that horrible place. As long as he has one of us, he'll be happy."

"See?" said Sunny, which meant; "So we'll never see each other again?"

"I'm afraid not. You'll be reunited with Klaus one day, I'm sure of it. But I don't think Count Olaf will ever let me go. And in the end he'll probably…"

"Way!" said Sunny, which meant; "No way Violet, am I crazy? I know our parents left you to take care of us, but giving your own life for our safety was not part of your agreement to them. If one of us goes, we all go."

"But we have no idea where Klaus is, and even if we did…"

"Do." said Sunny, which meant; "But we do."

"Sunny, he's at some house someplace—"

"Money!" said Sunny, which meant; "We can go to Mulctuary Money Management and ask Mr. Poe. He'll tell us, since it's his job to keep us together and safe."

"You're right! Why didn't I think of that? Of course! It was so simple; we could have just gone there a long time ago! But what about V.F.D. and Kit…"

"Later." said Sunny. "Now Klaus."

"What about Quigley though? And his telegram, remember?

_At the Violet hour, when the eyes and back_

_Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits_

_Like a taxi throbbing waiting_

He needed us to get in that taxi, and we did and it led us here. He wouldn't want us to leave, maybe this is where he's supposed to meet us."

"Think." said Sunny.

"I am, but I'm afraid I can't uncover that code any further than Klaus did. He's the reader, not me."

"Fiona." said Sunny, which meant; "If Fiona hadn't joined Olaf, then she would have been with us now and she could have uncovered the code."

"Yeah, you're right." said Violet sadly. She had forgotten that this whole time she had still been wearing Herman Melville on her clothes, and it pained her to think about it. "Once a friend, now a foe. If people can change sides so easily, then how do we know that Quigley hasn't joined up with Count Olaf as well and is just leading us to a trap?"

"No!" said Sunny, which meant; "No, Quigley's good! He'd never abandon us!"

"You're right. Just because Fiona did it, doesn't mean everyone else will too, right?"

"Right." said Sunny.

"If only I wasn't so stupid!" said Violet standing up.

"Stupid!" said Sunny, which meant, "Violet, you're not stupid! You're very smart!"

"No I'm not. I should have waited for one minute in the ersatz elevator. If I had just listened to Duncan, then we would know what V.F.D. was. We probably wouldn't be here now and somewhere where things made more sense."

"No worry." said Sunny.

"Sunny, do you think they're ok?" asked Violet.

"Yes." said Sunny.  
"I hope they are. Because they are our only friends now, and if we lose them, we have no one."

"Fiona?" asked Sunny, which meant; "Do you think Fiona would help us?"

"I highly doubt it. Did you see what she did to the hotel? She knew we were going to be in there."

"Why?" said Sunny, which meant; "Why did she have to turn evil? She was so smart and nice, and such a good friend. If only Captain Widdershins and Phil hadn't disappeared. Do you think Olaf took them as part of his plan to get Fiona to join him?"

"No, he was just lucky that it turned out that way. I'm sure that wasn't his plan. He didn't even know that Captain Widdershins had a stepdaughter. He thought we were the only ones. And he was lucky that _Fernald_"—she said this in a disgusted tone of voice—"was on his crew, because if he wasn't then Fiona would have no reason to join up with him."

"Marry!" said Sunny, which meant; "Remember Captain Widdershins said you should marry Fernald if we found him? That was ridiculous!"

"Yeah, that evil toad would be the last thing I would marry." Violet smiled. She hadn't had a good laugh in a while.

"Wish?" said Sunny, which meant; "Don't you wish that they hadn't burned down the hotel? Then we would know so much more about V.F.D. at that meeting they had planned."

"The meeting!" said Violet suddenly. "I completely forgot about it! It's ruined! It should have been tomorrow, or was it today? I'm losing track of time. They must have had a back up place. Sunny, we can't keep wasting our time here, we need to do something, either to help Kit, Klaus, or find out about V.F.D. Which one do you pick?"

"Kit, help." said Sunny, which meant; "Kit, because she may be injured and need help."

"Good point, then what?"

"Klaus." said Sunny.

"And then V.F.D. It's funny how that used to be our first priority before." said Violet.

Sunny nodded. Suddenly a sound came from a speaker phone.

"ATTENTION. THE TWO BAUDELAIRE MURDERERS VERONICA AND SUSY HAVE BEEN SPOTTED HERE AT THE REMAINS OF HOTEL DENOUEMENT. KLYDE'S WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THEY HAVE BURNED DOWN THIS LANDMARK AS A PART OF THEIR PLAN. PLEASE ALERT A NEARBY FIREFIGHTER IF YOU SPOT THEM. THANK YOU."

"Oh no." said Violet. "Sunny, now we really have to get out of here."

"HEY, THERE THEY ARE! I SEE THEM! CATCH THEM!" cried a man.

"Sunny, RUN!" screamed Violet. She grabbed her sister's hand and started running. They ran out past the courtyard, through a large field of wheat, and finally ended up at a cornfield.

"What to do?" said Sunny, which meant; "Violet, what do we do?"

"I—I don't know!" said Violet. "Being captured by them is probably worse than Olaf, because at least Olaf wouldn't burn us at stake!"

"Would." said Sunny, which meant; "Yes he would."


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter 8

Sometimes, waiting is a very difficult thing to do. When you wait, it is best if you have something with you to entertain you. However, Klaus did not have anything to do, and if he did he doubted that it would make him feel any better. He was concerned for the safety of his sisters, and he was concerned if he and the other children would make it out of the horrid house without being caught. He waited impatiently on his creaky cot, and watched the other children pack some things they may need for the journey.

"When are we leaving Klaus?" asked a little girl.

"I don't know, when everyone's ready. But be sure to keep quiet. If the Stevens find out we're in big trouble."

"Ok." she whispered, and ran off to her friends.

_I hope this works_ thought Klaus. _And I hope Violet and Sunny are hiding somewhere safe or are with Kit at the V.F.D. meeting at its back-up place. _

"Klaus, are you ready?" asked Kim.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Is everyone else?" said Klaus.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Everyone ready?" asked Kim.

Everyone nodded.

"Let's go then!" said Eva.

"Alright." said Kim.

All the children walked over to the door.

"This is it you guys. We only have one shot at this, and we have to do it right." said Klaus.

"We _k_now. You've told us about a hundred times." said a girl.

"I'm just making sure everyone gets it." said Klaus.

"We're not stupid." said the girl.

"Hannah, be quiet." said Kim.

Hannah raised her eyebrows and stepped back.

"Ok, let's go." said Klaus, a little annoyed at Hannahs rudeness.

They all tip-toed out the doors and slowly and quietly made their way to the front door.

"Shh." said Klaus, as he held the door open for the kids to walk outside into the fresh air.

"BOSS! BOSS! THEY'RE ESCAPING!" screamed a voice.

"RUN!" screamed Klaus.

All the kids started running in different directions. Suddenly a scream came from behind Klaus. He turned and saw the last thing that he wanted to see.

"Get OFF!" screamed Hannah, at the man on top of her. And the man on top of her was one of Olaf's henchmen, the man who looked neither like a man or woman and didn't talk much.

"_You!_" screamed Klaus. "What are _you_ doing here?" He/she just stared at him. Then he/she grabbed Hannah by the hair and started pulling her upstairs.

"You leave her _ALONE!_" screamed Klaus as he ran up to him/her.

He punched him/her in the face and grabbed Hannah's hand.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I—I think so." said Hannah. "Thank you."

"No time for that now. He/she is one of Olaf's henchmen. Olaf's probably around here somewhere. We have to leave."

"O—ok."

He pulled her out the door and onto the street, and to his horror, he saw all of Olaf's henchmen, grabbing all the children as they screamed in fright.

"No!" said Klaus.

Suddenly Hannah screamed. Klaus wheeled around and saw Fernald grab Hannah.

"Klaus!!" she yelled, but Fernald just grinned and pulled her away.

"NO!" screamed Klaus.

"AAAAHHHH!!!!" someone screamed. He turned and saw it was Irene, being pulled away by the bald man with the big nose. Kim and Eva were being pulled away by the two powder faced women. Then he saw something that shocked him.

"_Fiona!!_" he yelled in surprise.

"Klaus!" yelled Fiona, suddenly she dropped Jimmy and he ran to Klaus.

"Fiona—what—why—how could you?" said Klaus with tears welling up in his eyes.

"I—I—Olaf promised he would get me my stepfather back."

"Yeah, but did he? No, really, _did he?_"

"Uh—uh—KLAUS LOOK OUT!!" screamed Fiona. Klaus spun around but it was too late. He felt two giant hands grab his arms, and he saw two shiny, shiny eyes that meant no more than Count Olaf.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Violet and Sunny ran and ran until they could run no more. They had reached a small warehouse and had just enough time to slip inside without being caught. Inside were many shelves lined along the walls and on the shelves rested hundreds of thousands of boxes.

"Wow." said Sunny quietly.

"Shh." said Violet. Violet heard voices. She inched her way closer and closer until the voices were loud enough that they could hear what they were saying.

"You children were wrong to try and escape, and that is why you are here now. You are not to try and escape here, or we will be forced to kill you."

Violet peered from behind the wall into the big room that the voice was coming from. She saw a room full of young children, and amidst the crowd she spotted someone very familiar.

"Klaus!" she said quietly. Then she turned back to Sunny. "Klaus is in there with other kids. We need to get them out of there!" she said. Sunny nodded.

Violet pulled out her hair ribbon and tied her hair back so it wouldn't get into her eyes. Sunny knew she was thinking of an invention.

"If we had something to pull down all of these shelves at the same time…" she said. "Then all the boxes would fall, and that would cause a commotion, and everyone would head over here to… Sunny, bite me off a piece of cardboard, and look for a writing utensil lying around."

"Okay." said Sunny, and she set off to work. Violet looked on the ground and in the boxes for anything that could be used to write with, and she found this old fashioned pen.

"This'll do." she said. "Sunny, you have that cardboard ready?"

"Check!" said Sunny.

Violet took the cardboard from her sister's tiny hand and began to write: **Shh. This is not a trick. We are going to start a distraction. Get out when everyone's heads are turned. **Violet looked at them and a few of them nodded.

"Some of them got it. Now onto the next step." She sat down and thought. "I have an idea, but we need the exact things if it's going to work. Look for rope, a piece of leather, a sharp hook, a bowling ball, and some kind of shooting device."

"Okay!" said Sunny. The two of them got to work, Violet found rope, a bowling ball, and Sunny found a rigid hook and an old shot gun.

"Now all we need is the leather…" said Violet. The searched but found nothing. "I guess we could use one of these boxes." she said. "Sunny, I'll do this part, I just need you to climb all the way to the top of those shelves. Can you do that?"

"Si!" said Sunny, and she started climbing. Meanwhile, Violet, who was busy at work, managed to put the rope in the hook, tie the rope to the lids of the box, and fit the hook into the shot gun. Then she found a bunch of pillows and placed them in a pile next to her.

"Let's hope this works!" she said. She aimed the gun at the ceiling and fired. Just as she predicted, the hook went straight up in the ceiling with the rope in it. On one side of the rope the box was tied, and on the other there was a hanging rope that Violet could use for bringing the box up and down. She brought it down, and carefully placed the bowling ball inside.

"You up there Sunny?" she called quietly.

"Yes." said Sunny.

"Ok. I'm going to pull this up, and I want you to place it directly over the top shelf, and make sure it stays! Then jump down onto the pillows. Ok?"

"Okay!" said Sunny. Sunny did her job well, until she had to jump.

"Scary!" she said.

"Sunny, you'll be fine! Hurry up, I think the box is ripping!" And she was right. Just as Sunny jumped off, the bowling ball fell out of the box onto the first shelf, which broke and hit the next one, which broke, and caused a chain reaction.

"Yes!" said Violet. She picked up her sister out of the pillow pile and ran for the exit. She waited for the other children outside, and they soon began to show up.

"Violet!" said Klaus as he hugged his sister.

"Oh Klaus!" said Violet.

"Klaus!" said Sunny, not wanting to be left out.

"I was so worried about you two!" said Klaus.

"Well, we're glad everyone's safe. Let's go before they come out."

"Come on everyone, follow me!" said Violet, leading all the children into the depths of the forest.

In the miserable, unfortunate lives of the Baudelaires, this was one time where they were all safe and sound, and for that, they were very fortunate indeed.


End file.
